Project

Nov. 1-3

What I Did: I looked at all the classes I have taken at EVCC so far from fall quarter of 2010 until spring quarter of 2012. I made a checklist to show myself how each of those classes I have completed will go towards my Associate Degree of Arts and Sciences direct transfer agreement. To make sure I placed my classes in the right distribution areas on my checklist, I  ran a degree audit on the Everett Community College website to ensure that I am on track to earn my associate degree in June of 2013. I looked at the coursework my our prospective universities are expecting applicants to have completed on the Collegeboard website. Finally, I double checked the updated list of classes required to graduate from Everett High School in June of 2013.

How Long it Took Me: 1.5 hours

What I Learned:  I confirmed that I am on track to graduate from Everett Community College with my Associate Degree of Arts and Sciences in June, that I am ahead on my high school graduation requirements, and by the end of my senior year I will have completed all the coursework that my prospective universities are expecting of an applicant.  


Nov. 4

What I Did: I browsed the Everett Community College course catalog and decided on the classes I want to take for the next two quarters that will fit in with my high school and college graduation requirements and my college application plans. I plan to take
ENGL&111- Intro to Literature
JAPN&222- Japanese 5
JAPN&223- Japanese 6
POL&202 - American Government
MATH&151 - Calculus 1
PHY&121- General Physics

How Long it Took Me: 1

What I Learned:  The classes I have planned out meet all the criteria that all my schools are looking for from me and they fit in with my new daily schedules for the winter and spring quarters.




Nov. 5

What I Did: I met with my counselor, Lilian Ortiz, to agree upon the running start classes I will be taking for winter quarter. I then turned in my verification form to the running start office at Everett Community College.

How Long it Took Me: 1

What I Learned: The classes I have planned out meet all my high school graduation requirements.



Nov. 6-10

What I Did: I made a checklist of my high school graduation requirements to ensure that I will earn a high schol diploma from Everett High School in June 2013. I looked at College Boards charts on college graduation requirements and admission requirements for the four universities I will apply to. I applied to a scholarship sponsered by EVCC through the Phi Theta Kappa foundation and the Odenza Marketing Scholarship.

How Long it Took Me: 4 hours

What I Learned: I am on track to graduate from high school in the spring. I meet almost every college admission expectation at all four of my prospective universities.


Nov. 11

What I Did: I visited the websites of the Asian and East Asian studies programs at Stanford, UW, UO, and WWU. I studied their study abroad programs, cirriculum, and deadlines. I spent about an hour exploring each schools website to get a better picture of what I would be studying and expected to accomplish.

How Long it Took Me: 4 hours

What I Learned: Each univerity has many different venues, locations, and methods of international studies that i am greatly interested in taking a closer look at should I be admitted.  After viewing my degree expectations and requirements I am very excited to start my Asian studies coursework.



Nov. 12

What I Did:  I revisited the websites of each of my prospective universities and looked at real classes that I might take to complete my degree.

How Long it Took Me: 1.5 hours

What I Learned: There are so many classes I want to take at each university that I might need to postpone my graduation so I can keep going to school and take all the class I am interested in.



Nov. 13

What I Did: I woke up at 5AM and registered for  ENGL&111 Intro to Literature, PHY&114 General Physics, and JAP&222 Japanese 5th quarter through Everett Community College.

How Long it Took Me: .5 hours

What I Learned: That I am successfully enrolled in the three classes I wanted and need for graduation from college and high school.




Nov. 14

What I Did: I printed out and filled out the paperwork for necessary for graduation from EVCC in the spring.

How Long it Took Me: 1 hour

What I Learned: I am on track to earn my Associate of Arts and Sciences DTA from EVCC in the spring of 2013.




Nov. 15

What I Did:I started my Common Application for Stanford and my Stanford Supplement.
How Long it Took Me: 2.5 hours

What I Learned: This application will be the one that will take me the most time because it has the most writing sections and requires two letters of recommendation.




Nov. 16

What I Did:  I started my UW-Seattle application.

How Long it Took Me: 1.5 hours

What I Learned: I will need to spend some time contemplating how to fit all my extracirricular activities in the five spaces allotted in this application. Also, I will need to spend some time pondering topics for my short response writing section.




Nov. 17-18

What I Did: I applied to three small scholarships through Zinc.com, the GetActive scholarship, and I printed off and started the application for the Elks MVP Student scholarship.

How Long it Took Me: 4 hours

What I Learned: I need to meet with my counselor to learn some things like my class rank and size to be able to complete some scholarship applications.




Nov. 19

What I Did: I applied to Western Washington University.

How Long it Took Me: 2.5 hours

What I Learned: I now fully understand all the information i need to complete a college admissions application.




Nov. 20

What I Did: I applied to the University of Oregon.

How Long it Took Me: 2 hours

What I Learned: I can efficiently and effectively complete a college admissions application.




Nov. 21-23

What I Did: I worked on the Everett High School only scholarship but did not finish.

How Long it Took Me: 6 hours

What I Learned: I should not underestimate the time I plan to put into working on my scholarship essays. Sometimes they took longer than I expected to meet the level of writing I wanted to produce.


Nov. 24-28

What I Did: I worked on a diversity scholarship I found on Cappex.com and the ShoutItOut scholarship.

How Long it Took Me: 3 hours

What I Learned: I know how to write on demand about topics I have not previously contemplated.

Plan

What I Did: I mapped out a plan for my immediate and far off future by setting various goals such as graduating from high school. I also researched different internet resources that may be helpful when planning or executing the steps necessary for me to complete my goals. While creating my plan I learned a lot about what I want out of life besides finishing my education and finding a career. While answers to those parts of my plan can't really be found on the internet, there is a lot online that I can read about to help me now, while I am still in high school and college. I found the specific departments that I want to apply to at Stanford and the University of Washington in Seattle. I also talked to a co-worker of mine who informed me about how the relations between college degrees and careers functions in the real world. Mapping out where I want to be at specific intervals has helped me feel more confident about moving forward.

What I Learned: I learned that there is a plethora of different links and organizations that have been set up to aid people like me who are interested in international studies and affairs. I have already started to research these topics in depth and utilize them to my benefit. The other information i have gathered from non-internet sources has made me feel more confident in my decision to educate myself on what I find interesting, and not on something I think is more practical.


How Long it Took Me: About 2.5 hours

Financial Lessons

What I Did:  I read many different informational slides relating to various aspects of the adult financial world. After reading all the lessons and participating in the interactive quizzes I took final 4 exams; all of which I passed.


What I Learned: In lesson 4 I learned about dealing with banks. The text detailed all the advantages and pitfalls of opening different kinds of checkings and savings accounts. I learned to always check different interest rates and fine print conditions that could end up hurting me or my credit in the long run.

Lesson 5 dealt with budgeting. I learned a lot about tracking my monthly and yearly finances and ensuring that I can make enough to cover all my expected epenses. it was also helpful to read about adjusting expected budgets.

In lesson 6 I learned about the dangers of credit. The texts told me that I should always avoid relying on credit and I should never take out a mass amount of credit such as fifteen credit cards. I saw how easy it is to fall into debt and not be able to get out for years or decades.

In lesson 7 I discovered the different moving parts of home, automobile, and life insurance. I learned how to understand my own insurance policies as well as the ones I will need to pay for once I am out of school. it was interesting reading about how to effectively set up life insurance so that you can keep your affairs in order even after death.

Lesson 8 taught me about financial investing. I learned a lot about stocks, retirement plans, and different bank accounts that can earn interest.  Now I can determine the differences between a Roth IRA, Simple IRA, or a 401k. I also know the different characteristics of certificates of deposit and government bonds.


How Long it Took Me: About 8 hours

Career Readiness Pretest

What I Did: I completed a pretest that was meant to generally assess my basic reasoning skills

How Long It Took Me:  5 minutes


What I Learned: I learned that my basic math, reading to understand, and comprehension skills are good. I scored 100% or 12/12 on the Career Readiness Pretest.

FAFSA

What I Did: I filled out a FAFSA forecast to determine, based on me and my parents incomes, how much I am expected to contribute yearly towards a college education at the University of Washington Seattle Campus.


How Long It Took Me:  10 minutes


What I Learned: I learned that, on average, living on campus at UW Seattle for one year would cost me about $26,111. I also learned that, based on my information, I would qualify for about seven thousand dollars in federal aid. This means that for me to go to UW Seattle for a year without any other kind of aid it would cost me around nineteen thousand dollars. In addition, I would be able to take out $5,500 in direct stafford loans.

College Preparation

How will I handle the new responsibilities and freedoms in the college environment?

I have always been very independent person and student and so I expect to be able to manage my time and work very efficiently in a college setting. Being a Running Start student in high school has also helped me know what to expect once I enroll at a university. I think my greatest challenge will be keeping a consistent schedule written down and with me at all times. Sometimes I tend to overschedule myself with class, work, and volunteering so I just need to make sure my to do lists are more than just ripped pieces of notebook paper. Money won't be a problem for me in college because I hate to spend any amount of money no matter how small. I will also need to work on being more outspoken in class because sometimes I do not ask questions or clarify uncertain points for myself when I need to the most.

What resources and strategies might help me succeed?
I think the best strategy for myself to stay on track is to stay positive and draw on my self-motivation skills. If I get discouraged or run into a problem I can always be the one to make myself get back in the game, I just need to remember that I can do it. Some resources I know I will be sure to use or check out at a university are the library, tutoring center, and my advisors. I study best when I just buckle down and get the job done in a nondistracting environment that I am comfortable in, like the library. If I need help from someone such as a tutor I will make sure to go to them if I really cannot figure something out instead of just hoping for the best. I am always double checking my schedule for the week, month, year, and coming years. To make sure I am always on the right path I need to keep in contact with the advisors and staff that are available to help me.

Reality Check

What I Did: I did a Reality Check on WOIS.org to compare how my estimated expenses compared to the potential salary of a potential career option. My estimated yearly expenses were around $50,000 and my expected wages as an editor were between $52,000 and $61,000.

What I Learned: I feel that based on my estimated yearly expenses, I will be able to be financially stable in a few different areas of work that interest me.

How Long it Took: 5 minutes

Career Interest Inventory

What I Did:
I took multiple surveys on WOIS.org to determine different areas of potential work.

What I Learned:
I am more interested and suited for writing, reading, and culture related occupations such as being an editor or anthropologist.

How Long it Took Me:
35 Minutes